Shaping Global AI Governance? Assessing EU Actorness in the Negotiations of the Council of Europe's AI Framework Convention

Abstract International organisations (IOs) have increasingly engaged in the governance of AI to address potential risks. Soon after the European Union (EU) adopted its Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), the Council of Europe (CoE) adopted its Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, the ‘first‐ever international legally binding treaty’ on AI. Having emphasised its ambition to become a global leader in trustworthy AI, the EU's role in the CoE negotiations can thus be considered its first real litmus test for global AI governance. This article analyses the EU's internal and external actorness in the CoE negotiations by assessing relevant literature, existing policy documents and insights from expert interviews. It becomes evident that the EU was not only able to leverage internal actorness and present itself as a legitimate actor but also to faced significant constraints in influencing outcomes vis‐à‐vis other actors in the negotiations.